Friday, March 9, 2018

Mary McAleese on Catholic Church As "Primary Global Carrier of the Virus of Misogyny" and on Theology Denying Ordination to Women as "Pure Codology"

This is really Sarasi's post and not mine. In the past two days, she has provided a wealth of links to commentary about the stellar address former Irish president Mary McAleese gave in her opening address to the Why Women Matter conference in Rome this week. I'm simply passing on to you now links Sarasi has gathered and generously shared.

First, here's a link to Mary McAleese's whole statement, "The time is now for change in the Catholic Church," at the Women's Ordination website. As Sarasi points out, the top of this page also has a helpful link to a pdf file of the statement, to facilitate sharing it in that format.

Sarasi also points us to the wonderful collection of links about McAleese's address that Brian Coyne has gathered at the Catholica site. I'll be providing snippets from some of these, along with others Sarasi has provided, in what follows. Here are those snippets:

The Catholic Church in its current form will not survive, former president Mary McAleese said in Rome on Thursday.

"The clericalised church will not survive and that will be good. Just how long it might take or whether I'll be around to see, or whether my children will be still Catholics, my grandchildren, that I don't know.

"But frankly I did my best and the people who let me down in the job that I was given, the vocation as a Catholic mother and a Catholic woman, the people who let me down are not very far from here (in the Vatican)," she said. . . .

The "gravitational pull of patriarchy, empire and misogyny and of homophobia has drained, in many ways, respect not just for the church. The danger is that it could drain it for the gospel itself. That's what keeps me in the church, really," she said.

TheJournal.Ie, "'Male celibates advise the Pope on what women really want, that is ludicrous'":

Mary Mcaleese has challenged Pope Francis to "develop a credible strategy for the inclusion of women as equals throughout the [Catholic] Church's root and branch infrastructure".

The former Irish President made her comments in a speech at a conference in Rome about women's roles in the Church.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the conference, Dr McAleese called the Church an "empire of misogyny".

In her keynote speech, McAleese said Pope Francis needs to develop a strategy "with targets, pathways and outcomes regularly and independently audited" .

"Failure to include women as equals has deprived the Church of fresh and innovative discernment; it has consigned it to recycled thinking among a hermetically sealed cosy male clerical elite flattered and rarely challenged by those tapped for jobs in secret and closed processes.

Speaking to reporters, McAleese also raised the ban on women becoming priests.

"Pope Francis has said that the issue of women’s ordination isn't up for discussion, that women are permanently excluded from priesthood.

"I believe that women should be ordained, I believe the theology on which that is based is pure codology. I'm not even going to be bothered arguing it. Sooner or later it'll fall apart, fall asunder under its own dead weight."

Pope Francis must develop a "credible strategy" for the inclusion of women in the Church or watch them walk away "in droves", Ireland's former president Mary McAleese told an international gathering in Rome.

"Failure to include women as equals has deprived the Church of fresh and innovative discernment; it has consigned it to recycled thinking among a hermetically sealed cosy male clerical elite flattered and rarely challenged," McAleese told Voices of Faith, a conference focused on female roles in the Church.

"Women are walking away from the Catholic Church in droves, for those who are expected to be key influencers in their children’s faith formation have no opportunity to be key influencers in the formation of the Catholic faith."

Mary McAleese was speaking in Rome ahead of the Voices of Faith conference, which features prominent Catholic women from around the world.

They are celebrating International Women's Day by demanding a greater say for women in Church governance.

Pope Francis has declined to attend their meeting or to celebrate Mass for those attending.

Vatican Radio has censored its reports on their demand for gender equality.

RTÉ, "Mary McAleese calls for Catholic Church to end 'toxic virus of misogyny'":

"We are left to talk among ourselves. No church leader bothers to turn up.

"The tidal wave is quickly approaching the Vatican walls."

Several points that Mary McAleese made in both her presentation to the Why Women Matter group and in media interviews stand out for me. Her observation that the theology on which the denial of ordination to women rests is "pure codology" is brilliant. That's exactly what the father-knows-best argument that the Vatican wants Catholics to swallow — "It can't be done because we say so" — is. It's pure, unconvincing codology. And it's pure something else that even cruder words can sum up just as aptly, too.

Second, the following section of McAleese's address is exceptionally powerful, and should be shouted from the rooftops, over and over:

Failure to include women as equals has deprived the Church of fresh and innovative discernment; it has consigned it to recycled thinking among a hermetically sealed cosy male clerical elite flattered and rarely challenged by those tapped for jobs in secret and closed processes.

It has kept Christ out and bigotry in.

Organizations that want to have a viable, sustainable, vibrant future — especially ones proclaiming ideals about love, justice, and mercy — cut themselves off at the knees when they exclude the brain power, the discerning wisdom, the creative insights, of half of the human race. It is simply beyond doltish, not to mention wicked in the extreme, for the Catholic church to shut out the voices and contributions of women as it does in denying ordination to women.

How's that hermetically sealed cosy male clerical elite working out for you fellows these days?

"We need, in every community, a group of angelic troublemakers." Bayard Rustin, Quaker gay activist

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I'm a theologian who writes about the interplay of belief and culture. My husband Steve (also a theologian) and I are now in our 47th year together. Though the church has discarded us (and here, here, here, and here) because we insist on being truthful about our shared life, we continue to celebrate the amazing grace we find in our journey together and love for each other.
We live in hope; we remain on pilgrimage....
A note about my educational background: I have a Ph.D. and M.A. in theology from Univ. of St. Michael's College, Toronto School of Theology; an M.A. in English from Tulane Univ.; and a B.A. in English from Loyola, New Orleans.